round-headed bush clover (plus white sage)
Photo by J. Harrington
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We wish field guides included more basic ethnobotany information. Round-headed bush clover doesn't seem to be mentioned in Strength of the Earth, Frances Densmore's "Classic Guide to Ojibwe Use of Native Plants," but is mentioned in Kansas School Naturalist. While poking about the internets, we also discovered this wonderful blog posting on bush clover. It has much better pictures than ours. [We'll see if we can find a day when there's no breeze and try again.] If we had ethnobotany information right at hand, we'd probably miss some of the serendipitous discoveries we make as we try to scratch our knowledge itches online.
leaf color starting early this year?
Photo by J. Harrington
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Today we noticed the first maple leaves changing color. We're not sure if it's a sign of an early Autumn of August heat stress. We failed to see any signs of the Perseids showers the past few nights/early mornings. In part, we believe that may be attributable to the smokey skies due to western wildfires. We have enjoyed the misty fields at dawn the past few days. The softness the "ground fog" adds to the view is a pleasant counter to the harsh heat and invisible but oppressive humidity that comes later in the day these dog days of Summer.
August Morning
It’s ripe, the melonby our sink. Yellow,bee-bitten, soft, it perfumesthe house too sweetly.At five I wake, the airmournful in its quiet.My wife’s eyes swim calmlyunder their lids, her mouth and jawrelaxed, different.What is happening in the silenceof this house? Curtainshang heavily from their rods.Ficus leaves trembleat my footsteps. Yetthe colors outside are perfect--orange geranium, blue lobelia.I wander from room to roomlike a man in a museum:wife, children, books, flowers,melon. Such still air. Soonthe mid-morning breeze will float inlike tepid water, then hot.How do I start this day,I who am unsureof how my life has happenedor how to proceedamid this warm and steady sweetness?
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Please be kind to each other while you can.
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